Signal for pneumatic tires.



S. SILVERMAN & J. E. TRAHAN.

SIGNAL FOR PNEUMATIC TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18, 1909.

Patented Dec.28, 1909.

S. SILVERMAN & J. E. TRAHAN.

' SIGNAL FOR PNEUMATIC} TIRES.

APPLICATIQK FILED FEB.18, 1909.

944,971. Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

S GNAL Q NE EATIC Trans. 1?

I To olil 'wkom it may concern: I

B" 'i known that We, SAMUEL SILVERMANI andfildsnrn E. TRAHAN, citizensof the United States, residing at Watertown, in the COunty of Jeffersonand State of New. York, have invented certain newand useful-Improvements -in Signals for Pneumatic Tire's,'of which the following isa specification'ifl.

This-invention relates to improvements in signals for pneumatic tires,designed for use in connection with the tires of automobiles and flikevehicles, and has for its object to provide'for giving an audiblealarinin case the-tires of a vehicle become partially or Frequently'fthetires become deflated to a dangerous extent before the operator becomesaware of the fact, and punctures and other damages to the wheels result.

I t' isan-object of the present invention to- I provide a signal oralarm, to be carried by each tire or wheel, wh ch is self-sustain ngandself-acting, and which when properly installed will give an audiblewarning instantly the pressure in the tire falls below a givenpoint-,"and which will'repeat the alarm *onceevery revolution ,until thepressure of the 'a-fl ected wheel is restored. And a further objectistoprovide a device" of the class a manner top 1 whieh is simple, durableand "inexpensive,

comprisingbut few parts, and which -will stand-considerable wear and.abuse and not get out of order;

J The present invention consists principally of constructing the innertube, which car'' rie's-theair pr start r a pneumatic tire, in

1, :de-at'a certain point in its; length 'anjintegral? flexible sack orbulb,

adapted 1 to .bef'charged with "atmospheric pressure, there. being nocommunication bep tween the inner vltubea'nd; the-said sack: The sadjbulb or sack belngdisposed 'on the niner cirol'imferential side of'theinner tube. The

-said 3-sack'having an opening or vent on the side facing'the rim of theWheel, the said vent being threaded to receive a pipe which iSpecification of Letter s Patent! 7 28 19419, Application filedFebruary:18, 1909i Seri'a1No.47 8,-635 .j'

passes outwardly through andfelly of the wheel. V The'invention furtherconsists of'a whistle or like air alarm, which is operatively connectedto the outer end of the pipe. The construction and arrangement ofthesack, tube and whistle being such that when the sack is compressed bypressure exertedupon the inner tube by the tire or shoe,. theair-confined in the sack is attening of the outer forced outwardlythrough the tube for sounding the whistle. I

Other features andparts of the invention will be understood from thedetail description which follows, and by reference to the accompanyindrawings which form a part of this speci cation, and in which- Figure 1is a side view of a wheel having a pneumatic tire, to which our alarm isapplied. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section'of a. portion of awheel, showing the manner of constructing and applying the several partscomprising the alarm mechanism, the whistle being omitted. Fig. 3 is anenlarged cross-section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1, showing theconstruction and arrangement of the complete device and its relation tothe pneumatic tire parts. Fig. 4

is an enlarged View of the pipe and the metallic coupling part carriedby the sack. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 4:.

Similar numerals corresponding views.

In. the drawings, 2 represents the hub, 3 the spokes, i the felly, 5.the rim, 6 the outer tire or shoe, and '4' the inner or air tube of apneumatic wheel, the latter being inclosed of reference designate partsthroughout the several .withinthe shoe in the usualmanner, and hav1ngthe common iilhng tube 8.

The construction of the wheel may follow any of the well known methods.The inner tube 7 has the same functions and is applied as formerly, butto carry out the purposes and ob ects of our invention, we provide3111111161 or air tube to which 1S added an 1nis such that, whilethejou, wardappearance r of the tube is the same throughout its-le gth,tne hollow space in the tube is .contract'ed at the point where the sackis located,- by the i1 nals of the class.

chamber 11 in the sack 9. The inner tube is intended to be made of softflexible and elastic rubber the same as heretofore, but theportionwliich comprises the walls or shell of the sack 9, are preferablyformed two or three times as thick as the rest of the tube, and thesewalls are also reinforced and rendered practically non-elastic by meansof a fibrous or canvas hinder or filter 12. Under this construction thesack or bulb 9 is comprcssible but it will not expand. The walls of thesack being made thicker than the tube 7 and also arched as shown by thecross-section, prevents the air pressure with which the tube 7 ischarged when inflated from compressing or crushing the sack. In otherwords, the sack is intended to be so constructed and disposed that theair pressure of.

the innertube 7 can neither enter nor contract the chamber 11 of thesack. The exposed side of the sack 9 is preferably made to conform tothe inner surface of the shoe next to the rim of the wheel, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3.

13 represents a metallic part embedded centrally in the rim-side of thesack, for the purpose of stiffening and strengthening that part of thedevice, as well as to serve the purpose of a nut for connecting a pipe15. The part 13 is perforated at 14 to afford communication with cavity11, and this opening is threaded to receive the pipe 15, which passesthrough suitable openings in the rim and felly of the wheel. The outerend of pipe 15 is threaded and a jam-nut 16 is applied and screwed downtightly against the felly. By this means the sack is drawn against theinner wall of the shoe, and all of the parts are thus firmly held fromshifting out of working position.

17 represents the signal or alarm, consisting of a whistle which mayfollow any of the well known constructions for air sig- The base of thewhistle is arranged to receive the threaded upper end of the pipe 15.This pipe therefore serves for conducting the air which may be expelledfrom chamber 11 'of the sack 9 for blowing the whistle.

The sack -9 is intended to be filled or charged with atmosphericpressure only.

When the device is in its normal or resting position as shown in Figs. 2and 3, the sack will receive its supply of air through the whistle 17and pipe 15 there being no other means for the air to reach the cavity11. In the same views, the inner tube is represented as being inflatedto its normal working extent. When the parts are in this condition theouter tire or shoe is held in proper working order or shape. To carryout the objects of our invention the rounded or bulging side of thepneumatic sack 9 should approach within one-half to three-quarters of aninch of the inner surface of the tread portion of the shoe, as shown byfull lines in Figs. 2 and this manner the shoe may flatten to the usualextent as indicated by the dotted line 22, while working under normalconditions, as when the pressure of the tire is being fully maintained,and the sack will not be compressed and the whistle will remain silent,thus indicating that there has not been any loss of air from the innertube 7. As soon, however, as the tire becomes deflated to an extentwhich will cause the shoe to flatten till it bears with some forceagainst the bulging side of the sack, the pressure of the shoe assistedby the weight of the vehicle will then compress the sack, contract thechamber 11, as shown by dotted lines in Fig.

3, and expel a portion or all of the air confined in the sack, theexpelled air passing out through the pipe 15 and sounding the whistle17. As soon as the portion of the wheel having the sack applied leavesthe road or track, the sack will immediately restore itself to normalshape, and in doing so it will become refilled with air drawn from theatmosphere through the whistle and vent pipe 15, and be ready to giveanother alarm when the wheel completes the next revolution, and so on,till the occupant of the vehicle heeds the warning, and stops themachine and pumps up the deflated tire.

Under this construction and arrangement of the signal parts, the signalwill be sounded once each revolution after a tire has become deflated,or as often as that part of the wheel in which the bulb is locatedstrikes the ground. Owing to the manner in which the device isconstructed and applied the weight of the car is utilized to compressthe bulb, although the pressure of the air in the inner tube cannot doso. Each time after the alarm is sounded by the exhausting of the airfrom chamber 11 of the bulb, through the tube 15 and the whistle, as thewheel continues its rotary movement, the bulb will refill, and be readyto give the whistle another last when the next revolution of the wheelis completed. The more the tire becomes deflated, the louder andstronger will the whistle sound, until it has attracted the attention ofthe occupants of the car.

The constructing of our pneumatic tire alarm'is extremely simple and maybe applied readily to any automobile wheel employing the common inner orair tube, by

tube may beapplied about as readily as the oldtubes. When properlyconstructed and applied 3. When the sack is disposed in seas-21 3 I thedevice is entirely automatic in its opera- I tion, self-sustaining, andpractically indeg structiblel The device may be applied to 1 Wheelshaving difi'er'entvmakes of rims and render elfective service.

The addition of the bulb or sack 9 to the air tube will not lessen theresiliency of the tire, and thedisposition of the bulb is such that thetube may be inflated by air forced through the filling tube 8 and theair will circulate freely to all parts of said tube the same asformerly.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim as new and vdesire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

As anew article of manufacture a pneu matic tire alarm and acompressible air sack for operating said alarm, the said sack comprisingan integral part formed in one side of the inner tube of a pneumaticWheel, and disposed between said inner tube and the split side of acommon outer tire, the said alarm mounted on the felly of the Wheel andoperatively connected with said sack, the said sack capable of beingcompressed by the abnormal flattening of the tire, for sounding saidalarm by the force of the air expelled from said sack.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

SAMUEL SILVERMAN. JOSEPH E. THAI-IAN.

Witnesses EDGAR V. BLOODOUGH, HELENA L. BARDOL.

